As the College Football Playoff format changes starting this season, more details are being released about how it will operate and what it will look like.
One of these is television rights and schedules.
ESPN and the College Football Playoff announced Wednesday that the network will sublicense some CFP games from TNT Sports, a division of Warner Bros. Discovery, from ESPN starting with two first-round games this season. He announced that he had signed a five-year contract. The match will be broadcast on TNT.
“We are very excited to sign this agreement with ESPN, which gives TNT Sports the opportunity to showcase these College Football Playoff games on our platform for years to come,” said TNT Sports. Chairman and CEO Louis Silberwasser said in a statement. “TNT Sports aims to delight fans and maximize the reach and engagement of these high-profile matches.”
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Broadcasting college football will be a first for TNT Sports, which has acquired rights to broadcast the NHL and MLB in addition to the NBA and NCAA tournaments in recent years. As part of the deal with ESPN, TNT Sports will broadcast the two first-round games, as well as the two quarterfinal games, starting in 2026. ESPN plans to broadcast all other CFP games on its network, including the national championship game, according to a press release.
“ESPN is pleased to sublicense some of the College Football Playoff’s early games to TNT Sports, an event that we’ve helped grow into one of the preeminent championships, alongside the CFP,” Rosalyn Durant, ESPN’s executive vice president of programming and acquisitions, said in a statement. “We are confident in the reach and publicity this new agreement will bring as we enter a new, expanded playoff era.”
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed in the statement, but CFP’s sublicense to TNT Sports was announced in March for a new $7.8 billion deal for ESPN to own the rights to CFP, according to the Associated Press. This was made possible due to the signing of the contract.
college football playoff format
The news that TNT Sports would acquire the broadcast rights to CFP comes after the College Football Playoff Board of Control unanimously voted in February to reduce the College Football Playoff format from five teams to 12 teams, or adopt a 5+7 model format. Published after approval.
“We’re excited to add TNT Sports, another highly respected broadcaster, to the College Football Playoff family,” College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock said in a statement. “Sports fans across the country are familiar with their work across a variety of sports venues over the past two decades, and we look forward to seeing what new and innovative ideas they bring to the promotion and distribution of these games.”
In the 5+7 model format, the top four conference champions would receive first-round exemptions and be seeded 1 through 4, while the remaining eight teams would be seeded 5 through 12. These eight teams would then play on the top team’s home field in the first round.
Here is the 2024-25 College Football Playoff schedule according to the 12-team model.
First round (on campus)
- Friday, December 20, 2024: 1 match
- Saturday, December 21, 2024: 3 games
Quarter finals
- Tuesday, December 31, 2024: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
- Wednesday, January 1, 2025: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl Game, Allstate Sugar Bowl
Semi-finals
- Thursday, January 9, 2025: Capital One Orange Bowl
- Friday, January 10, 2025: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
national championship
- Monday, January 20, 2025: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
